All pets in general require periodic bathing and grooming to keep them in good health. Dogs in particular are more difficult because of their often-larger sizes and physical strength. Generally, in the home the pets are washed in a shower, bathtub, and laundry tub or just out on a lawn. This can be an arduous task with a great deal of bending over; kneeling and lifting even with small pets. Often the person doing the bathing gets just as wet as the pet being bathed. Small pets present the difficulty of just holding them in one position to bathe them. Most conventional indoor facilities, i.e. home bathtubs, that can be used for washing pets are often very slippery to stand on, making the job even more difficult and producing more trauma on the pet. Some pets that become very upset when being bathed will often urinate or worse which can increase the problems when the pets are bathed in the house. When pets are washed and groomed, especially in the summer, they are loosing a great deal of hair that can clog drains and cause expensive plumbing problems in the house.
Dogs want to shake after a bath and with no means of restrain them; this can make a mess in the house if this occurs. Further, if the pet is given a final rinse with a flea dip or similar application in indoor facilities, the facilities must be cleaned very carefully before being used by the family. If the flea dip is shaken by the pet in the house, it can cover both the floors and walls. Washing pets generally becomes so difficult that the pets are often not bathed at all, which leads to a variety of problems like mange on the skin, and in the ears, flea infestation on the pets and in the house along with unpleasant odors. Moreover, the number of abandoned pet is increasing dramatically, and in most instances, the abandonment is due to poor pet hygiene.
Commercial pet groomers use specialized stainless steel tubs for washing and grooming pets. These tubs are expensive, large, cumbersome, and not practical for mobile groomers that make house calls. These commercial grooming tubs also require special hair filters to insure that the drains are not clogged by the excessive amounts of hair from the pets.
People who show pets at the many pet shows through out the country are required to extensively groom their pets on the road which presents great problems of portability and storage for the equipment. Pet stores and people who sell pets find it necessary to keep the pets presentable to the customer, which requires bathing often. Veterinary facilities also require the facilities for bathing pets, but often do not have the room for the large commercial tubs. Some pet care facilities that have a large commercial grooming tub use the one-size-fits-all theory that does not work with the large variety of kinds and sizes of pets. It is very difficult at any facility to have the different sizes and heights of pet bathes required for bathing and grooming the large variety and sizes of pets people have.
There is a continuing need for improved, inexpensive pet bathing and grooming apparatus that comes in a variety of sizes and heights, is convenient and comfortable to use for both the pet and the individual bathing the pet along with being light weight, portable and compact for shipping and storage.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangement of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.